Glenkinchie whisky – Lowland

Glenkinchie distillery information

The Glenkinchie distillery lies in a glen of Kinchiie Burn near the village of Pencaitland (roughly 15 miles from Edinburgh, earning it the nickname of Edinburgh malt). It was founded in 1825 by brothers John and George Rale as Milton Distillery, but was renamed to Glenkinchie in 1837 (The land the distiller is on originally was owned by the de Quincey family, which over the years corrupted into “Kinchie”). The Rale brothers kept ownership of the distillery until 1853, when the distillery was sold off to a local farmer, who turned the building into a sawmill. It remained dormant until 1890, when a collective of brewers, blenders and wine merchants from Edinburg formed the Glenkinchie Distillery Co Ltd. It kept producing until 1917, when World War 1 made the government restrict the use of Barley in order to ensure consistent food supplies. Production resumed again in 1919, with Glenkinchie being one of the few distilleries that was allowed to keep producing during World War 2.

In 1968, the malting floors at Glenkinchie closed, and instead were turned into a museum of Malt Whisky. Glenkinchie was relatively little known, until United Distillers started marketing it under their Classic Malts brand (which also includes Cragganmore, Dalwhinnie, Lagavulin, Oban and Talisker) in 1988.

An interesting bit of information about the Glenkinchie Distillery is that its stills are some of the largest in the industry. In fact, when the wash still needed repairs in the spring of 2008, the roof of the building had to be removed in order to perform the operation.

Glenkinchie whisky

As is typical for most Lowland whisky, Glenkinchie is light and fresh, with hints of heather. It currently is available in 2 different bottlings: